Designer: Dieter Rams
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Dieter Rams
b. 1932

Dieter Rams is one of the most ubiquitous and revered designers of the 20th century. As Head of Design at Braun for over 40 years, from 1961 to 1995, Rams produced more than 500 designs, ranging from furniture to coffee makers to radios. His design ethos was one of radical functionality and simplicity. Rams's user-friendly approach and minimalist aesthetic continues to influence designers today and he has had an immeasurable impact on the visual language of everyday objects.

A thing can only be beautiful if it is also well made.

Dieter Rams

Wright presented Dieter Rams: The JF Chen Collection at auction in 2018, featuring over 130 works by the seminal designer. If you would like to learn more about a work by Dieter Rams in your collection, contact one of our Specialists today.
Auction Results

The only plausible way forward is ‘less-but-better’: back to purity, back to simplicity. Simplicity is the key to excellence.

Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams' Ten Principles of Good Design

Good design is innovative

Good design makes a product useful 

Good design is aesthetic 

Good design makes a product understandable 

Good design is unobtrusive

Good design is honest

Good design is long-lasting 

Good design is thorough down to the last detail

Good design is environmentally friendly 

Good design is as little design as possible

Rams, a documentary about his lifetime of work, as well as his thoughts on consumerism, sustainability, and the future of design, was released in September 2018. Gary Hustwit (Objectified, 2009, Helvetica, 2007), visited Wright for the film. 
 

Dieter Rams b. 1932

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Dieter Rams is one of the most influential industrial designers of the 20th century known for his dedication to precise and orderly design. Born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1932, he was profoundly influenced by the work of his grandfather, a carpenter. At sixteen he began courses in interior design followed by a three-year carpentry internship. In 1953, he joined Otto Apel’s architecture office in Frankfurt where he collaborated with Skidmore, Owings and Merril on the planning of the U.S. Consulate buildings in West Germany. Shortly thereafter he was recruited by the German consumer electronics manufacturer Braun in 1955. In 1956, in collaboration with mentors from the Ulm School of Design, his design which displayed the mechanics of the SK4 radio and record player through transparent plastic put his design work on the map.

Auction Results Dieter Rams

Dieter Rams, Hi-Fi Wall Unit stereo system

Dieter Rams

Hi-Fi Wall Unit stereo system

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $23,760
Dieter Rams, Stereo

Dieter Rams

Stereo

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result: $13,750
Dieter Rams, LE 1 electrostatic loudspeakers, pair

Dieter Rams

LE 1 electrostatic loudspeakers, pair

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $12,700
Dieter Rams, 606 Universal Shelving System

Dieter Rams

606 Universal Shelving System

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $8,820
Dieter Rams, First generation 620 sofa

Dieter Rams

First generation 620 sofa

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $8,450
Dieter Rams, First generation 620 sofa

Dieter Rams

First generation 620 sofa

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $7,500
Dieter Rams, settee, model 620

Dieter Rams

settee, model 620

estimate: $3,000–5,000

result: $5,625
Dieter Rams, prototype daybed

Dieter Rams

prototype daybed

estimate: $1,000–1,500

result: $4,688

Major Exhibitions

Systems: A Retrospective of 1960s Braun Design
Moda International, Paris, 2015
Less and More – The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2011

Interviews

Icon Eye
Fast Company
Kinfolk
Design Boom

Further Reading

As Little Design As Possible
Less and More
Ten Principles of Good Design

If you would like to learn more about a work by Dieter Rams in your collection, contact our specialists!